Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Logan Flannery (Fr., Lakeville, MN) rushed the ball 23 times for 106 yards and three touchdown's, giving Bethel a 28-13 win over Hamline University to stay undefeated in conference play. In addition, Ben Wetzell (Sr., Wells, MN) became Bethel's 4th place career passing leader by completing 15 of 24 passes for 183 yards. He needed just 150 to surpass Rhett Bonner who played for the Royals from 1983-1986.
Bethel's first scoring drive started early in the first quarter when Aaron Mills (Sr., Traverse City, MI) recovered a Hamline fumble on the on the Bethel 47-yard line. A 23-yard pass to Aaron Bernstetter (Jr., Holdingford, MN) and a crucial fourth-and-one conversion deep in the red zone set up Flannery's 3-yard touchdown run. Nate Gutshall's (So., Urbandale, IA) point after put Bethel up 7-0.
The Royals struck again halfway through the second quarter when they were able to put together a 10 play, 70-yard drive, capped off by a Ben Wetzell 1-yard touchdown run. Flannery had a 22-yard reception and Nick Otto (Jr., White Bear Lake, MN) had a pair of receptions to help Bethel move the ball into scoring position.
Hamline got on the board in the third quarter after Brody Anderson intercepted a Wetzell pass for the Pipers, returning it 37 yards to Bethel's 33-yard line. Eight plays later, Mark Masso barely snuck into the end zone on fourth down and less than a yard to go, narrowing the gap to 14-7.
Bethel answered right back less than two minutes later when Flannery scored another touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 33-yard Otto reception that put Bethel on the Piper 5-yard line.
On Hamline's next drive, Bethel's defense came up with a big stand on fourth and less a yard when Steve Luebke (Sr., Johnston, IA) and Nathan Holm (Jr., Gillette, WY) stuffed Piper running back Masso for no gain, forcing Hamline to turn the ball over on downs at the Bethel 41-yard line. That led to Logan Flannery's third touchdown of the game, this time from 15 yards out. Nate Gutshall converted on his 14th point after attempt in a row to put Bethel up 28-7 late in the 3rd quarter.
But the Pipers would not go down quietly. With less than a minute to play, Hamline's Sean Traynor blocked a Kevin Ness (So., Dassel, MN) punt and Adam Novotny recovered for the Pipers to give them the ball on the Bethel 11-yard line. Quarterback James Leary found Kyle Milburn on the very next play for a touchdown pass to make it 28-13 after Bethel blocked the extra point attempt.
The Royals amassed 439 yards of total offense to Hamline's 165. However, Bethel was penalized an uncharacteristically high seven times for 52 yards compared to just two Piper penalties for 10 yards.
The win keeps Bethel undefeated in MIAC play at 6-0, while they improve to 7-1 overall. Hamline falls to 0-6 in the MIAC and 2-6 overall. Bethel will face Augburg at the Metrodome next Friday night at 7 p.m. for their next conference game.
